GMA nixes quantitative ingredient labeling

The Grocery Manufacturers of America told the Food and Drug Administration that a proposed draft amendment to the Codex General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods that requires quantitative ingredient labeling is a bad idea. GMA said that neither mandatory requirements nor voluntary guidelines as proposed by the government agency are necessary. The current Codex regulations are sufficient. Voluntary guidelines will only create pressure to include the labeling, resulting in a voluntary-mandatory standard. In addition, GMA said the administration should not respond to every proposal by a consumer group or country “by offering to compromise on standards that have already been established by consensus, especially when the extra labeling requirements do not provide any health or safety benefit to consumers.” GMA surveyed its members to determine whether quantitative ingredient labeling was a hot issue for consumers. In over six million calls to member companies, such labeling was mentioned so seldom that it didn’t even register as an issue. GMA also warned that the draft amendment might violate World Trade Organization trade agreements.